Even a good ten years after my studies, I maintain contact with former fellow students, stay in dialogue with them. I realized that most of them felt like me. They have Company changed, got new tasks and positions. Only today do they feel adequately remunerated.

Work new thinking

That gave me thought. It must be possible to rewrite the "concept of work", to scrutinize encrusted structures and processes and to break up. We are not isolated cases. Many representatives of generation Y are like that. We are used to it (and the very youngest ones) to organize ourselves with mobile phones and laptops.

And we have a lot of discipline and bite to do our job. During my studies, a maximum of one percent of students had a laptop. When I teach at the universities today, no more than one percent of all students have NO laptop.

Working time is lifetime

For us, Generation Y - which, by the way, I also belong to - means "working time = lifetime". I just can not see why I have to finish my time until work is over when I'm done with the work.

Why am I not allowed to enjoy the time that I have gained through speed, precision and results?

Even (prematurely) reached day goals are success! But it is not just that. Generation Y is also interested in self-realization and a mind-filling work. Obviously, the elderly also went so, only they may not have dared to communicate publicly like Generation Y and Seven from generation X (1965 to 1980).

The meaning of the work

Compared to the older employees, the younger generation is much more likely to question the meaning of their work. She wants to understand what and above all why and for what she does something, asks more often about the background, wants to take responsibility and participate in decisions.

Carefully observe the young people a little more closely. You will find that many of them are very committed. They develop their own ideas, package them into concepts or words, want to integrate them into projects or processes.

They want to make experiences, develop themselves professionally and grow personally. But when something grows, growth pains are the cause. This means that each of us makes mistakes regardless of developmental phases. This is completely normal. Therefore an environment must be created in which mistakes may be made.

Errors promote the development ...

... when we learn from it. This also applies to sport. In the case of boxing, a clear distinction is made between training and competition. Many techniques are tried out in the training, but they are not always (in the first place) as they are presented in theory. We make mistakes and the feedback often hurts.

Perhaps it brings us the realization that this technique is not the right one for oneself. Through reflection, we learn, but also through pain. In contrast, the boxer only uses techniques that work. Mistakes are not appropriate here! As a whole, it is a promising learning process.

And that's exactly what you have to do in one Company to be possible. It must be allowed to make mistakes. Only then can the employee develop and become better. The prerequisite is, however, that these errors have only limited consequences and do not endanger the entire target. In terms of the boxer's point of view, he must not be beaten in every Fight KO. This goes too much to the substance and reduces the motivation.

Work in harmony with the biorhythm

Generation Y wants to decide when and where to do her work. It needs a solid framework within which it can move freely. Generation X was different; often tasks were simply worked out without complaints and demands. The why, for what and also the how did not interest.

This leads to a question that I would like to ask you: Can you concentrate on eight hours at a time? Not me! We are people and (thank God) no machines! We have a biorhythm with high and low phases, which can be positively influenced by more movement, healthy nutrition and relaxation phases.

Be flexible!

Each book on time management recommends working in harmony with the biorhythm. Without a doubt, it makes sense to complete complex tasks when we can concentrate well. For this to succeed, the environment also contributes decisively. So what's the point of doing your job at home - in the home office or out in the fresh air - when you can concentrate much better here?

I know a lot of people who regularly change their place of work. You work in the garden, in the car or the hotel lobby. Why not? A new environment provides fresh stimuli, stimulates imagination and creativity.

So be flexible and work "with soft bandages". Of course, this way of working requires a high degree of mutual trust. But let us be honest: if there is no trust, it is generally hard to perform well; the workplace only plays a disorderly role.

The boys may be better able to deal with information, but they lack something the older ones have: work and life experience. If both complement each other, something greater can come out of it, according to Aristotle's quote: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts."

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Publisher, FAZ-Bestseller & Anselm Grün

After the in multiple languages translated Bestseller"The 110% lie", loud FAZ with "well practicable tips", Top-10 in Impulse and Wirtschaftsblatt as well as other titles such as "Executive Health" with preface of Anselm Green followed the founding of their own publisher with books on various job, HR and management topics. Enjoy browsing!